"To encourage business and the ASX to actively seek and promote women in business, and then to not have them in the one body that runs the country, which is federal Cabinet, to me is hypocrisy," Ms Troeth said.

These women have long memories - a record number of Coalition females MPs were elected in 1996 in a John Howard landslide, yet only two women were appointed to Cabinet.

Almost two decades on, Mr Abbott has halved that representation - Ms Bishop.

"I think men have an innate fear of capable women at that level, not telling them what to do or certainly putting their views forward and perhaps some of those views being adopted as government policy," she said.

Senator Boyce added: "I think the problem is that it demonstrates our preselection processes are stuck in the 19th century almost, not even the 20th century."

'A sad day for Australian politics'

It was a sentiment pounced on by the Opposition, with acting Labor leader Chris Bowen saying Mr Abbott has taken Australia backwards by including only one woman in Cabinet.

"The cabinet of Afghanistan now has more women in it than the Cabinet of Australia," he said.

"This is a sad day for the senior representation of women in Australian politics."

ACTU president Ged Kearney says she is also surprised and disappointed.

"I hope this isn't reflective of his government's views on women and the need to promote women in roles of management and importance in the government and generally, but also for working women who struggle every day with things like a gender pay gap and certain imbalances in the workforce," she said.

But Eric Abetz, the Coalition's leader in the Senate, defended the selection of a male-dominated cabinet.

Senator Abetz says having more women in the Labor ministry did not necessarily lead to good representation in Parliament.

"You have to make very tough judgment calls as a prime minister as to who is in and who is out of Cabinet, and at the end of the day we, as a Coalition, have always said that these positions should be based on merit rather than on quota," he said.

"And if I might say with respect, have a look at the Labor Party and you can see what quotas do."

The lack of female appointments overshadowed Mr Abbott's first formal news conference since he won the election.